Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting strongeragain as well?" Zoe whispered.Everything i had seen in the Pensieve, nearly everythingDumbledore had told and shown me afterward, I had nowshared with Zoe — and, of course, with Sirius, towhom I had sent an owl the moment I had left Dumbledore's office. 

Me and Zoe sat up late in the commonroom once again that night, talking it all over until my mindwas reeling, until I understood what Dumbledore had meantabout a head becoming so full of thoughts that it would have beena relief to siphon them off. 

Zoe stared into the common room fire. I thought I saw her shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm. 

"And he trusts Snape?" Zoe said. "He really trusts Snape, eventhough he knows he was a Death Eater?" 

"Yes," said Harry.

Silence. 

"Rita Skeeter," I muttered finally. 

"How can you be worrying about her now?" said Zoe, in utterdisbelief. 

"I'm not worrying about her," I said to my knees. "I'mjust thinking . . . remember what she said to me in the ThreeBroomsticks? 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would makeyour hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported histrial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. AndWinky too, remember . . . 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr.Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talkedabout it at home.""Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?" I shrugged.

Zoe stared out the window. 

 "And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Zoe said, turning back to me. 

"Yeah,"I said, "but he's only saying that because Crouchdisappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage." 

"We never thought of her, did we?"Zoe said slowly. "Mindyou, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admitit —" 

"Of course she doesn't," I said sharply, looking up."Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about hismother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling thetruth."

Zoe checked her watch "we better sleep. . ."

"You go" I sighed "I need to study." And I did. But as I made my way upto bed I couldn't sleep.

Harry and I often got sympathyfrom strangers for being an orphan, but I thought that Neville deserved it more than we did. Lyingin the darkness, I felt a rush of anger and hate toward the people who had tortured Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom. . . . I remembered the jeers of the crowd as Crouch's son and his companionshad been dragged from the court by the dementors. . . . I understood how they had felt. . . . Then I remembered the milk-whiteface of the screaming boy and realized with a jolt that he had dieda year later. . . . 

It was Voldemort, I thought, staring up at the canopy of hisbed in the darkness, it all came back to Voldemort. . . . He was theone who had torn these families apart, who had ruined all theselives. . . . 

"Ems" said Draco in surprise "did you sleep at all?" 

"Huh?" I said with a jolt. What with studying for exams, helping my brother, worrying about Sirius, thinking about Voldermort and trying to figure out a way to sneak into the tournament, I hadn't slept much. 

"You need sleep Ems" said Zoe, passing me a goblet of pumpkin juice. 

The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited andtense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, whichwould take place a week before the end of term. Harry was practicing hexes at every available moment. He felt more confident aboutthis task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous thoughit would undoubtedly be, Moody was right: Harry had managed tofind his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead. 

Tired of walking in on Me, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all over theschool, Professor McGonagall had given us permission to usethe empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. Harry and I hadsoon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him--and me-- toblast solid objects out of his [our] way; and the Four-Point Spell, a usefuldiscovery of mine that would make  wands point duenorth, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in theright direction within the maze. 

He was still having trouble withthe Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary,invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; I managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, andHarry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before I had looked up the counter-jinx. 

"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down the list and crossing off those spells they hadalready learned. "Some of these are bound to come in handy." 

 Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he seemed towant to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task before we concerned ourselves with anything else. He reminded Harry and me in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls ofHogwarts was not our responsibility, nor was it within our power to influence it. 

If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, he wrote, mypriority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay handson you both while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but allthe same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through thatmaze safely, and then we can turn our attention to othermatters

The day of the task  A screech owl arrived for Hermione,carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.

 "What?" said Me,Harry and Ron together, staring at her.

 "Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paperout of sight, but Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said,"No way. Not today. That old cow." 

"What?" said Harry. "Rita Skeeter again?"

 "No," said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to pushthe paper out of sight."It's about us, isn't it?" said Harry. 

"No," said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone. I snatched the paper and read;

HARRY POTTER

"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"

The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writesRita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon hissuitability to compete in a demanding competitionlike the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attendHogwarts School. 

Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal,regularly collapses at school, and is often heard tocomplain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relicof the curse with which You-Know-Who attemptedto kill him). On Monday last, midway through aDivination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporterwitnessed Potter storming from the class, claimingthat his scar was hurting too badly to continuestudying.

 It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistencethat the scar is still hurting is an expression of hisdeep-seated confusion. 

"He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."

 The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthedworrying facts about Harry Potter that AlbusDumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public. 

"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Lavender Brown, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lotof attacks on students a couple of years ago, andmost people thought Potter was behind them afterthey saw him lose his temper at a dueling club andset a snake on another boy. So did his sister, who is in fact quite rude and a bully. It was all hushed up,though. But he's made friends with werewolves andgiants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit ofpower." 

Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes,has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, themost famous Parselmouth of our times is noneother than You-Know-Who himself. A member ofthe Dark Force Defense League, who wished toremain unnamed, stated that he would regard anywizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy ofinvestigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes,as serpents are often used in the worst kinds ofDark Magic, and are historically associated witevildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out thecompany of such vicious creatures as werewolvesand giants would appear to have a fondness forviolence."

 Albus Dumbledore should surely considerwhether a boy such as this should be allowed tocompete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fearthat Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task ofwhich takes place this evening.

"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" said Harry lightly, folding up thepaper. 

"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Ron said."There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard —" 

"The window was open," said Harry. "I opened it to breathe." 

"You were at the top of North Tower!" I said. "Yourvoice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"

 "Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magicalmethods of bugging!" said Harry. "You tell me how she did it!" 

"I've been trying!"I said . "But I . . . but . . ."

 An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over my face. I slowly raised a hand and ran my fingers through my hair. How had Sirius escaped Azkaban? How had he entered Hogwarts?Bugging. . .

 "Are you all right?" said Ron, frowning at me. 

"Yes,"I said breathlessly. I ran my fingers through my hair again, and then held my hand up to my mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie.

"I've had an idea," I said, gazing into space. "I think Iknow . . . because then no one would be able to see . . . even Moody . . . and she'd have been able to get onto the windowledge . . . but she's not allowed . . . she's definitely not allowed . . . Ithink we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library — justto make sure!"

I had reached the library in a minute and searching "Animagi. . .Animagi"

"No! No, not happening!" said a voice behind me, Draco was standing there "we have our Transfiguration exam in 10 minutes" he said "you can't possibly be studying" I

"I'm not" I said pulling out a book "Dray how old does Rita Skeeter look?" 

"How old does--what?"

"Quickly"

"I don't know. . .late thirties?"

I flipped to the approximate date and began checking.  A minute later I let out a cry of triumph. I had got Rita Skeeter. 

"Come on" said Draco, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door. 

Two written papers. Two practical exams. And then it was off to lunch. "Mum — Bill!" said Ron, looking stunned, as we joined theGryffindor table. "What're you doing here?" 

"Come to watch Harry in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasleybrightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook.How was your exam?"

 "Oh . . . okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblinrebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," he said, helpinghimself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern,"they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard." 

"Hello Mrs Weasly" I smiled as she got up to hug me.

"Hello Emma dear! How was your exam?"

"Good." And it was. 

"I need to go to my table now" I said grinning at Bill, who grinned back "I'll see you all later"

After Lunch it was History of Magic. And Athrimancy. 

We  then returned to the Great Hallfor the evening feast. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge hadjoined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, lookedstern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating onher plate, and I thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid keptglancing along the table at her. 

There were more courses than usual, but I, who was starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchantedceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell."Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be askingyou to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the thirdand final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the championsplease follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

People applauded. My stomach jumped. We left soon after. The air was full ofexcited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of studentsfiled into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and thefirst stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They werewearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid,who had his on the back of his moleskin vest. Bagman's magically magnified voice echoed into thestands."Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the pointscurrently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each —Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of HogwartsSchool!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the ForbiddenForest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, witheighty points — Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!"More applause. "And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, ofBeauxbatons Academy!"

So . . . on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman."Three — two — one —"He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. 

20 minutes later there was shower of red sparks. My stomach dropped. I had to act now.

Getting up from my seat I pushed my way to the crowd and went to Professor Flitwick who was gaurding an  entrance.

"Professor" I panted trying to look as if I was panicked "Professor I saw some students--go--they made a path through there--" I pointed a few feet away, the hedge in question, lucky for me looked quite forced together. 

Professor Flitwick yelped and said "Ms Potter do you mind--?"

I shook my head quickly. He ran off and making sure everyone's attention was elsewhere. I gripped my wand and ran into the maze. If I needed to kill, I would kill. 

No one hurts my brother.